Breath of the blazing sun
by RatherLazyWriter
Summary: Where Tanjiro and Nezuko are adopted by...Rengoku! OOC Tanjiro KanaoxTanjiro and a hint of GiyuxShinobu. AU(Final decision)
1. Anger is fuel, waiting to be ignited

"Tanjiro nii-san!"

The moment that often turns a person's life around...

"Hanako! Shigeru!"

Usually comes like a thief.

"Tanjiro."

Stealthily...

"Oka-san! I'm going down the mountain to sell some charcoal."

Deceptive...

"You don't need to, Tanjiro. It is very cold, after all.

_Unexpected_.

Living a life that revolved around the flame, the Kamado family has been renowned for selling charcoals around their town for the years that had gone by.

Albeit little, it is cheap and affordable, resulting in them being the go-to of everyone when snows start to hit land.

Kamado Tanjiro, in that regard, has excelled over this business.

Despite the low income that they earn by doing this, he persisted and continued the business passed on to them by their predecessors. In a sense, this business is a family legacy and it would be a shame if it were to be left in the dust and abandoned by their specific generation. Being so, despite his father's untimely death, he continued the labor heavy job despite it's risks and dangers.

It has been their only source of income, after all.

Sure, his sister works as a seamstress to be able to aid him in sustaining his family, but it didn't mean that it did so much to lighten his work. Not a lot of people would be willing to climb a snowy mountain just to get a ripped clothing fixed, not to mention the duty of having to go back up just to retrieve said clothing after it had been fixed.

Every day, Tanjiro descends from the mountains to the nearest town, hoping to empty what little basket of coals that he possessed.

This routine has quite made him famous, as he's become a reliable name that a lot of people go to. His inherent kindness, his approachable demeanor, and his uncanny sense of smell had always been a pleasant and helpful presence in town, and it shows seeing how hospitable the town is to him.

The inherited gift that he holds has proved time and time again that he would be in so much trouble without it. This gift he had been luckily blessed with was basically a crutch that allowed him to stand easier in this world full of troubles. As much as he'd hate to admit, he doesn't know how far he would be able to go without it.

Considering how it allows him to literally draw a mental image of his surroundings using this enhanced olfactory sense that he has, it's no wonder Tanjiro relies on this surprisingly sharp sense of smell more than anything in his arsenal.

There was this one time that a friend of his was accused of breaking an ornate and expensive vase, which whom he was acceptingly given the final judgement even though he just happened to walk by the alley as a part of his planned route. Unsurprisingly, as soon as he mentioned smelling a cat, the issue was immediately resolved

His enhanced sense of smell wasn't a secret to anyone, as most of the people who know him held great faith in both him and the gift that he possessed.

So, when he sensed a strong stench of what could be described as nothing else other than blood when he came back to his home after a long day of work, he immediately ran to his family, praying repeatedly to god and hoping they were safe.

_If only prayers are actually__ answered, life would be so much easier._

The moment his feet leveled on the same ground that their house stood on, he saw his younger sister, Nezuko, along with his youngest brother, Rokuta, lying on the ground with their figures helplessly limp and unmoving, the garments they wore soaked in a thick stench of an unrecognizable putrid smell and the unmistaken stain of blood.

His body went stiff as he forcibly dropped the basket from his shoulders, hoping that the horrifying scene he had just witnessed was nothing but a nightmare that he would soon wake up from. He ran to their bodies, checking their pulses and flipping their bodies to their backs to have a clear look of their faces. This way he would be able to determine their state based on the color of their lips or their skin.

_There was no pulse._

_Their skin were abnormally pale, and their lips were almost gray._

All of a sudden, he felt his blood rush to his head. His temples ached, his head felt light and unbalanced. His breathing halted and proved challenging to maintain. And his heartbeat echoed in his ears like drums, further emphasizing his mixed emotions over the scene that he's witnessing.

Forcing himself not to shake, he formed a tight fist and exhaled sharply in an attempt to calm himself down before trying to hopelessly check once more. He stroked the cheek of his younger sister Nezuko.

Cold skin met his callous hands as he started to burst in tears, his teeth clenched tightly on each other as he resisted the urge to scream.

_No_

Distracting himself from such a depressing view, he turned around. He saw the small traditional house that he had lived his entire life on, the ornate carvings of the house even older than his mother met his eyes.

The pitiful mess of a sliding door was open, the paper that separated the inside from the outside ripped clean, as if a sword slashed through it diagonally. Looking at the sliding door alone already welled up deep, heavy, and undescribable emotions inside him.

_What met his eyes when it shifted a little bit to the side had him worse._

He saw the lifeless remains of the rest of his family inside it, his siblings' limbs carelessly flung around as streaks of blood can be seen around the walls. His youngest sister, Hanako, tightly wrapped on the arms of his mother's mangled body, it's left leg and half of its head missing as if it was sliced off cleanly.

Not only that, their bodies looked distorted. Like some sort of chemical was injected inside them. Their skins were abnormally dyed blue, their veins bulged violently on their skin, their eyes looked like it was stretched vertically and squeezed horizontally at the same time, giving it a weird puke inducing shape that popped out of their eye sockets. All this combines further emphasized the mortifying scene that he had just witnessed.

His eyes lost its focus. He didn't bother to look anymore.

_After all, he had already lost his mind._

His legs felt limp, his head felt heavy as his eyes forcibly closed itself. His entire felt crushed as if he was being punished at the deepest part of hell.

He fell on his knees, unknowingly gripping his fist hard enough to cause it to bleed. Tears came rolling down the edges of his eyes as saliva started to build up in his mouth, slowly dripping out in his bout of insanity.

He didn't sign up for this. The moment he came down the mountain to sell charcoals, he expected himself to be back up there, by sundown, seeing his family's wide smiles greeting him back for his return.

_Not this._

Tears welled up from his eyes. Each and every single one of them packed full of bitter emotions. Sadness. Regret. Agony.

If only he didn't come down the mountain.

_I__f only he heeded his mother's advice_.

Then something must have been different.

He could've saved all of them. He could've died along with them. He could've saved some, _he could've saved none._

He would gladly throw his own body in front of the blade of a katana if it meant saving his family.

But be that as it may, he can't. His family's corpses lied brutally in his side, as if it was ravaged by an unknown, and unprecedented force of nature. Even a wild beast wouldn't do something as gruesome as this.

'Uh-uh...'

He managed to mutter a few incoherent sounds as his mind went blank. For a second, everything simply did not matter anymore as his system shut down, his body collapsing to the ground in shock as he laid motionless on the snowy grasses of the mountain.

Before losing consciousness, a few memories flashed by his vision.

The images of his family still fresh in his mind, he saw flashes of the happy faces of Hanako and Shigeru pleading their mother to allow them to come down with him to the town and sell coals. In that split second, he regretted denying their cute pouting faces and puppy eyes which they probably specifically rehearsed to coerce him. He also saw flashes of the slightly disappointed look of Takeo when he realized he can't go too, too busy maintaining his 'mature' image as he resisted the urge to plead to his mother along with his two younger siblings. He also saw faint flashes of Nezuko's beautiful image as she carried Rokuta on her back, lulling the young Kamado to sleep.

All of them, _way too fresh in his _mind.

The simple but sophisticated image of his family was like fragile glass shattered at the slightest touch, breaking apart with little interference as the picture fell down from his memory forever.

Now, a new version of his family was engraved deep within his memory.

The new, horrible look of his family, sullied, and bloody, devoid of their once happy selves.

* * *

He woke up, the all so discernible stench of guts and blood still in the air.

Now, unlike most of the time, his expression went blank. His eyes were heavy, his body seemed to be unable to summon the strength and energy that he needed to properly bury his family. His limbs felt extremely numb as his hands remained trembling at the sight of their corpses, contrary to his now expressionless face.

But, even so, he still insisted on doing it. It is his responsibility to give them a proper farewell as their last member, after all. In the end, it still fell on to him to bury them properly even with all the repulsive elements of their remains.

One by one, he forced himself to gaze at the horrifying state that his family was in, feeling somewhat heavy in his chest. He struggled on breathing, not because of the cold, but because of the sight that he forcibly peered his eyes into. His hands felt sore just picking up their limbs one after another, stepping on the gooey leftovers of what seemed like the splashed innards of his family had him resisting the urge to puke even more.

Needless to say, he was crying the whole time, but his expression nor his now hoarse voice refused to express the sadness that he was in. His eyes just gushed out beads of tears one after another as his emotionless expression clouded his once bright and optimistic visage.

Especially after he took a good look at his younger sister's position. Earlier it looked like she was protecting her young brother, Rokuta. He wanted to cry out loud, but had no more energy to do so.

She was curled into a ball, covering what little frame Rokuta had. Her arms tightly clung into the back of the small child as she held him tightly to her chest in a desperate attempt to cover him using her body.

Inevitably, her effort was in vain. Proven by their current states. Empty and lifeless.

No, he shouldn't think of this as their death. He should think of it more like it's their release. Their release from what awful excuse of a life they had. His clouded mind managed to clear up just for that one second as his head subconsciously bobbed left and right, signifying his reluctance to accept the fact that they're dead even though he was already burying them.

But, no matter how much he tried to convince himself, the sting that was left in his heart still didn't falter.

He suffers from loud thumping, and painful pounding of his chest every time he takes a look at his family, his breathing grew tighter and tighter for every second that passed burying their bodies away.

From his mother, Kie, to Takeo, Shigeru, Hinako. To Rokuta, and finally Nezuko.

Wait...

Carrying his sister bridal style as he was about to give her a burial, he felt a soft warmth radiate from her neck. The rest of her body was clad in a thick pink kimono so the only direct contact he ever had with his sister's body was his arm to her nape, surprisingly it emitted a faint warmth that se'emed to have affected Tanjiro greatly despite the cold weather.

Could it be?

He took a quick glance to the rest of his family's graves. Nezuko's the only one left that is not buried yet.

'Nezuko's alive?!'

There was no way. There's so little chance that Nezuko would've survived. It has been long since he found them dead, so there's-

No.

No matter how low the chance may be, he would take it as long as he could save his sister.

No matter how small it may be.

* * *

Exhausted.

He's been running for a good minute, carrying his younger sister at his back after he buried the rest of his family. His breathing was ragged as his mouth spewed out white fog, his feet scrambling to gain proper footing as it repeatedly sunk into the snow at every step. Needless to say, all of it didn't matter.

She still feels warm.

_That's the only thing that mattered_.

Thinking back, several ideas came to his mind as he speculated about what happened to his family.

A bear that failed to hibernate, a simple psychopathic criminal, to a demon.

Yes, a demon. He can't rule out the possibility of those horrifying creatures.

Saburo-san did say demons existed, after all.

Regardless, his family is already dead and there's no coming back from it. All he could do now is move forward. As soon as he snapped back to reality after rekindling the dormant flame in his heart, he focused on the task at hand.

And he would start by saving his little sister, Nezuko.

Swiftly trailing through thick snow, Tanjiro navigated through the dense forest, desperately looking for the fastest way down. His eyes were rapidly darting all over the place, his brain scrambling to find a route back to the town.

Nezuko didn't look like she was injured. She didn't possess any wounds and unlike the rest of her family, she was still breathing...

...barely.

And hanging on what sliver of hope he had left, Tanjiro broke to a sprint to the town, hoping that a doctor could save his sister.

As for the snow tripping him that caused them to fall off a 10-meter cliff... He certainly didn't plan that one.

"Nezuko! I'm sorry, you got hurt again."

Standing up instantaneously after recovering from the fall, he anchored himself by pushing his body out of the snow that he was buried into. A task that didn't prove to be easy, as his arms sunk in the snow everytime he tried to push his body upright

"Nezuko!.."

Nezuko stood slowly. Her long black hair covering her face. She shook her head off of the snow and covered her face with her palm. It seemed like she's awake, like she just fell into a deep slumber and had just woken up from a good dream.

"Nezuko!"

But as soon as her brother called out to him, she lashed out on a rampage and lunged to her brother, her gentle features contorting into a terrifying one, her arms reaching out violently to the neck of his unsuspecting older brother.

"Nezuk-"

She forced herself to his neck, pushing her distorted arms with abnormally grown nails on her hands which looked as sharp as a newly sharpened knife, her neck and face bulging with veins with her teeth similar to those of a vampire.

She looked nothing like a human. Her skin looked exceedingly pale, her eyes which were originally a dark shade of red, now replaced with a pale pink color. Her pupils were also unusually horizontally slit, similar to those of a cat.

Desperately, he tried to push his sister back, pleading her to snap back to her senses. He spent extra effort doing so mainly because the piercing cold brought upon by the snow on the ground started to seep in into his back in an alarming phase, numbing his control over his torso.

His resistance felt futile as he witnessed his sister enlarge in terms of size and strength. Her groans continued to grow deeper and deeper until she managed to completely overpower him, pushing him to the ground with her enlarged teeth inching ever closer to his exposed face.

"Ne-Nezuko! It's me! Your brother! It's Tanjiro!"

He desperately protested, but it simply fell onto deaf ears as his sister continued on pushing him to oblivion.

"Nezuko!"

He pleaded one more time.

At the same time, fire spat out from one direction. A direction that for all as he knew, is the direction where the town was.

"Thank you for coming! My sister, she needs help-"

Driven by a sudden burst of adrenaline, Tanjiro grabbed his sister by the neck, twisted his entire upper body out of the ground, and along with a swift twist of his hips, he mustered enough strength to throw his sister out of the way of an impending slash.

Seeing as to how a sword was seen flying to his sister's neck, he made a quick decision and kicked her Nezuko out of the way too.

"Sketchy."

'Who was that?!'

Tanjiro rose up. Hate and anger evident in his face. He took a good look at the stranger that tried to cut his sister down as he leveled himself balanced, his feet searching for proper footing as he rose from the ground.

The stranger had an amused expression. With golden blonde hair laced with red streaks at its ends, eyes that had the same color as the sun, and a confident stride that couldn't be mistaken as a fighter, he smirked at Tanjiro, squinting his eyes as he teased him to move forward.

"That's the spirit!"

Overcome by emotions, Tanjiro lunged forward, relentlessly, but randomly slicing with his hatchet.His inexperience instantly showed itself as the man simply weaved, bobbed, and ducked his frame out of harm's way as he looked intently at Tanjiro's fury infused eyes.

"Anger is fuel, waiting to be ignited."

He quoted. Dodging another strike as he nonchalantly tripped the untrained boy out of balance.

"Hate. Anger. Remorse. Agony..."

Sheathing back his sword, he started to speak, sharp eyes glaring over the small frame of the younger boy around.

"They're all but fuel. Fuel for the actions that you'd take."

He further elaborated. Observing Tanjiro closely.

A mistake that he made, though.

Suddenly, a small girl wearing a pink yukata kicked him in the face.

Oh, it's been a long time since he's been kicked in the face.

Not managing to block the kick, he rolled a few meters away from his former position. The latter, whatsoever, also rolled, but in a rather disturbing direction.

'Shoot! She's gonna eat him!'

Nezuko ran towards his brother, hands reaching out to him. She jumped forward to land right next to him, then for some reasons, looked back.

Looking back, she felt a strong force at her left cheek. That man kicked her on the cheek.

"Serves her right."

That cheeky little girl...

Launched for over 10 meters away, Nezuko flew after being at the receiving end of the man's kicks, her body flinching after she hit the trunk of a tree. The display of power didn't end there, as the gust of wind that swayed along with his movements ruffled the leaves of the trees gently, his soft footing returning to the snow without a sound.

The man watched this happen, sporting an amused smile at his face while doing so.

"Don't touch Nezuko!"

Tanjiro saw this happening and finally lost his mind. Gripping hard on the lower end of his hatchet, he swung it harder than he ever did before.

Not to mention he swung it against a human. His eyes blurred as his head felt heavy. Is it anemia?

Or did he seriously just stand up and closed a gap of more than 7 meters before nearly landing a blow against a pillar.

Tanjiro, upon being enraged at the beatdown that he so helplessly witnessed, summoned a surprisingly display of explosive power as his hands, arms, torso, legs, and feet all coordinated to be able to close a distance of over 7 meters in just one step.

"Amazing! You're amazing!"

The man exclaimed, having such an enthusiastic look of his face as he casually bobbed and weaved his upper body to dodge his strikes.

"However..."

Moving faster than a normal human could see, the man that Tanjiro waa fighting unsheathed his sword as swung it just millimeters above his head.

"...breath of the flame, 2nd form. Ascending blazing sky."

The wind vibrated violently. Tanjiro's eyes were wide open and his mouth was agape.

An explosion for behind him?

Tanjiro looked back.

The part of the forest behind him looked as if it were shaved off cleanly. A few trees in a wide angle had their trunks cut, some even catching fire despite the cold weather. Soon after, a crashing sound along with the loud ruffling of the leaves and the sound of twigs snapping reached their ears, feeling a soft 'thud' from the earth beneath them along with it.

Tanjiro looked back as he marveled at the person in front of him. He didn't know whether to fear or to idolize this man. What he do know is that this man is an amazing person.

'Is that even possible?'

Said person patted him on the shoulder. Indicating a non-hostile nature as he flashed a smile to him. His hands were big, strong, and solid. Just feeling it above his clothes, he could easily tell hoe calloused his hands were.

He smelled a rather caring vibe on the guy as his eyes became plastered on the latter's frame. He was tall...

His sister, however, had different ideas.

Restlessly, she launched herself back to the pillar. With mouth wide open, teeth sharp and showing, and claws long and exposed, she struck the man. Aiming for his head. She was growling a deep, throaty voice along with it.

Tanjiro, saw this happen, and automatically blocked it himself. He used his arms to deflect Nezuko and restrained her.

"Nezuko! Calm down!"

He held his sister wrist with one of his hands, tripped her out of balance with his foot and pulled her, dropping her to the ground as he held her by the waist.

The man watched it all happen with utyer amusement.

"Nezuk-"

Like earlier, Nezuko performed the inhuman feat of enlarging her own body as she continuously fought against the pin, freeing herself once she grew bigger than he could contain. Tanjiro was thrown to the side with relative ease as she set her sights to the blond man once more.

Clearly hostile to the blond-haired guy in front of her, she attacked with a swipe of her fingernails.

"This demon is interesting!"

The blond-haired guy exclaimed, showing no signs of moving as Nezuko lashed out at him with obvious malicious intent. He swiftly stepped to the side with his hand resting calmly on the hilt of his sword, his soft, enthusiastic gaze carefully watching the demon in case of any shenanigans.

In a single move, he incapacitated Nezuko by hitting the back of her head with the base of his sword's hilt, rendering her unconscious on the ground as he strategically covered her body from the sun with his large frame.

"Nezuko-"

"Don't worry."

Tanjiro was held back by the blond-haired guy's sword, its blunt side softly pushing him back as the man stopped Tanjiro in his tracks.

Since he smelled the man's, fiery but unhostile nature, Tanjiro behaved himself, knowing that he wouldn't want to get in this guy's bad side. He stood passively with his hand anxiously shaking on his side, his lips quivering unnoticably as he forced his labored breathing.

The man was leagues above Nezuko nor him. Even if both of them attacked with a plan that's been cooked for months, they wouldn't stand a chance. He knew as much and chose to let their fates be decided by him, a decision that he would soon remember as the one choice he made that turned his life around.

Hearing the leaves rustling as it swayed in contact with the cold, blowing wind, Tanjiro watched the blond-haired guy carry his younger sister bridal style to the base of a tree. He pulled the branch of the tree then swiftly cut it.

'Wha-'

Tanjiro didn't even see it happen. Did he use his hands? Did he draw his sword, cut the branch, and sheathed it back in one motion? Or did he just pull it out clean?

There's no way pulling the branch out could produce such a clean cut. So he crossed that one thought out of his mind. The feat wpuld've injured any normal human's hand if they were to try to cut a branch that thick the same way Karate practitioners chop wooden planks apart with their hands, but he didn't hear the high pitched sound of a sword scraping against the inaide of a sheath as it was being taken out, so the thought grew lost inside his mind as he wondered how it just happened.

"Hey, Mr..."

Amazed by the display of astonishing performed by the latter, he asked.

"Who...are you?"

Taking the branch he just recently cut down and shielding the small girl from the sun by using it, he turned to Tanjiro.

"Flame is dormant..."

He stared at him with a big smile plastered on his face.

"...fire is destructive. My name is Rengoku Kyojurou. Young man, which one are you?"


	2. Ignite

"Which...One?"

Perplexed by the rather intricate question, Tanjiro's face stiffened up at the sight of the bigger, older man.

He may have that dumbfounded face a person that narrowly survived death has, deep in his mind, the gears of his brain is on overdrive, looking for the best answer at the moment.

"Neither."

The result of his thinking. Flame is dormant, as he said, so it must symbolize something similar to being lazy, while the latter is destructive. And destructive isn't exactly a good trait to have, so he went for a safe pick.

"Great! Hmm! Great!"

Unbeknownst to Tanjiro, the man in front of him isn't yelling, he's just incomparably enthusiastic. But that fact didn't stop him from being scared.

'He has a gentle, caring smell.'

This fact did.

Tanjiro held on his breath and stared at the man intensely, curiousity oozing out of his gaze.

"C'mon, young man! What's your name?"

The man looked down on him as he instantly, and unbelievably teleported to Tanjiro's back, patting the younger man on the back.

"I-It's Kamado Tanjiro!"

**OoO**

Day 1

After the encounter on the mountains on that fateful day, me, you, and Rengoku-san trekked down the place in an effort to find something to protect you with. We found a simple, yet innovative basket that barely allowed you to survive under the sun.

Albeit cloudy, Rengoku-san didn't stop being cautious and personally stitched a few layers of cloth on both the outside and inside of the basket to keep you safe.

Deep down, he truly is kind.

Hours had passed and our seemingly endless walking finally came to a halt, in front of a very simple traditional shoji that is A LOT larger than our own house. Inside it were swords, and swords, and swords, and swords!

Somehow, I didn't feel that uneasy compared to what I expected before coming in. The place smelled of a strange metallic aroma that encompassed the entire house, and it felt very gloomy.

The house had only 3 people in it, and one of them is not very kind.

Senjuro-kun, though, is completely opposite to _that _person. He is Rengok-Kyojuro-san's younger brother and he is very kind! Much like Takeo, if you will!

We didn't spend much time inside there because of the _unwelcoming_ person, so Kyojuro-san relocated us into a different place.

With barely 10 minutes of rest, we hiked a different mountain where a small barn stood. We entered the place, and I slept almost immediately due to the exhaustion.

After I woke up, you were out of the box, asleep as a delicious smell reached my nose. I followed it for a sec only to see Kyojuro-san cooking some warm udon.

The mountain, like the previous one that we _once _lived on, was very cold and chilling. So the udon helped me very much to resist the cold.

Kyojuro-san simply smiled at me, back then. Then the smile dissipated and I surrendered to my fate.

"Kamado-kun. Come with me for a sec."

He said, having a serious expression that shocked me.

We went outside despite the cold, and walked. I didn't know what Kyojuro-san's motives were, but I knew that he's serious. So I decided to follow him around to remain on his good side.

A few minutes in, and we arrived at an empty patch of the forest, where the trees seemed to avoid.

The entire circle of snow was all ours when Kyojuro-san turned around and faced me.

With a rather heavy expression, he spoke.

"Kamado-kun. What are you?"

I was shocked beyond compare. _Of course, I'm human._ I wanted to reply, but rashly replying could easily mean my life, and I didn't want it to end yet.

"..."

I remained silent. The chilling wind of the mountains, along with the freezing cold weather piercing through me like a hot knife on butter.

"I repeat. What are you? What are you after? What's your goal in life?"

His expression turned worse for every word that he spoke. Kyojuro-san started to smelled angry and it scared me. The words that he threw still not managing to go through my head.

"..."

Once again, I remained silent.

"What now, Kamado-kun? Your sister's a demon, your entire family was slaughtered, and you're left with nothing but this. What now?"

Just as much as his, I could've sworn my expression tuned grim. The bare thought of my family was something I never wanted to think of ever again, and Kyojuro-san reminding me rekindled some sort of fire in my heart.

Tears welled up from my eyes, small and weak, but somehow uncontrollable.

I still can't forget how Kyojuro-san provoked me back then.

"_Pathetic._ So your emotions are dull, huh."

My posture started to recede. My tears uncontrollable, and my feelings pouring out.

I started to cry at that spot. Even with the increasing cold that froze my tears even before they left my face, everything seemed to not matter as I cried with my head down back then.

I thought I was never gonna be able to stop, but a hand that held me to the back and, for some reasons, threw me a couple of meters back snapped me back to my senses.

My body felt weak as I rolled on branches, stones, and snow after the throw. My body felt aching and my sides hurt like it never did before, but what I was able to do back there was look up.

Kyojuro-san, now in front of me, appearing to places with his amazing speed as always, took my face and held it brashly.

His fingers dug deep to my skin as he positioned my face to meet his.

"That's all you can do? Kamado-kun? Not a speck of anger? Not a thirst for revenge? Not even hate?"

He then proceeded to lift me off the ground.

"Anger is power, you know? People can't live without it..."

Seemingly disgusted of my own look, he stared at me deep as if he's looking at hot, steaming, garbage.

Even I pitied myself back there, the pain screaming on my entire being, mixed with the inability to do something. Not about the beating Kyojuro-san gave me, but about the death of everyone else.

I hated myself for not being able to do anything. I was the eldest son, I was supposed to protect everyone.

But even you, the only one who survived the attack, was someone I still couldn't save.

I'm incompetent, Nezuko. I shouldn't have been your older brother, the mere fact that I was beaten here proved that I didn't deserve the role.

But still...

Kyojuro-san put me down, and handed me over a bamboo sword. He took and threw his word and the scabbard and spread out his arms, fully exposing himself.

"Hit me, Kamado-kun. That way you could keep hold of even some of the anger deep within you."

I understood the reason why Kyojuro-san did such a thing. He was asking me to fight.

I knew that I couldn't win. I knew that no matter what I would do, I would never win.

The mere thought of fighting Kyojuro-san scared me to death.

"That's it? That's all there is to you? Even after the death of your family, you can't get yourself to move and avenge them?

That shows how shallow your relationship with your family truly is."

It was only right now, when I was beaten thoroughly that I realized what Kyojuro-san was doing.

He was trying desperately to bring out what anger I have left. He did say I was too kind. Too kind to be like him.

I thoughtlessly attacked with everything I had back there. Now, with the pain that is all over my body, I know that it was a completely stupid idea.

I am a hundred years to early to even touch him.

He was too fast, even beyond human comprehensions. He made light work of me like how me made light work of you. It's very painful.

The rest of the day is also very painful. He beaten me thoroughly until my tears are not of sadness, but actual anger.

"I'm gonna ask you, Kamado-kun? What is your purpose in life?"

He said as he kicked me even when I'm already helplessly on the ground, rubbing the soles of his foot on my shoulders.

"Demons are everywhere. Your sister is one. Devote yourself into killing them, and this beating will stop..."

He stated, stopping the one sided beating.

"Anger is a weapon, Kamado-kun. A weapon even stronger than swords, guns, and even cannons..."

He continued, throwing his thick coat to poor me.

"Fresh, unbridled anger is best nurtured early. Remember, a silent, focused flame is much sharper than a wild, violent one..."

He then cleared a spot with a flick of his foot then sat.

"And a flame only becomes focus when it has a definite direction. Exactly like anger."

Not just Kyojuro-san, but the entire forest seemed to become silent. My sides still hurt and some bruises on my arms are turning violet, but I still chose to lay down the snow.

What can I say? I can't move! Sometimes, while experiencing the 'hazing' that I was subjected to, I couldn't help but think that Kyojuro-san genuinely hated me. He didn't smell anything of the sort, but still...

"Now, I'm gonna ask you again. Kamado-kun, what is your purpose?"

Some time has passed and the sky seemed to turn indigo. The insects began to produce sounds, and the wind that breezed through my face felt even more piercingly cold.

"I-I'm gonna turn my sister back into a human!"

Now, as I write this diary for the day you turn back into a human, you were sleeping with me inside the small cabin, the small ember of a pitiful cabin barely being able to illuminate the notebook that I am writing on.

I promised back then to turn you into a human. I promised myself, to Kyojuro-san, and to you, that one day, while killing as many demons as I can, I would be able to find a cure and turn you back.

So you could get your old mind and senses back.

So you could read this.

Even now, even with Kyojuro-san's extremely thick haori, my body's freezing, but Kyojuro-san told me to not resist the cold, but rather to accept it, so even with my doubtful mind, I'm writing this with Kyojuro-san's haori barely hanging onto my shoulders, dangling on them and barely enveloping my body.

I'm gonna have to sleep soon too, so this will be it for this entry, I don't know if I would still be alive when you read this, but I dearly hope that you could one day even be able to read this in the first place.

And if you're currently reading this, always remember that Onii-chan is always there for you.

I love you very much, Nezuko, don't ever forget that.

-Kamado Tanjiro.

**OoO**

And...sorry for the lack of updates to my readers...hehehe...

I have no excuse, I was simply lazy, as I lost all inspiration on writing this after rereading the manga in an attempt to gather inspiration to write this...

(lmao the irony)

FYI, I lost inspiration after I reread Shinobu's...you know...

And so to say, I'm gonna write this like a diary for now, so don't freaking dare tell me that this is 2nd person, and it's against the rules of .

Also, special thanks to a special someone that helped me gather the inspiration to write again, although my insight on my own writing is still very bad(Like seriously, my eyes hurt when reading my own works)THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

You know who you are! The person that actively exchanged emails with me even though she has no gains despite the effort...

Anyways, I've never been this talkative to my stories before, so I'm going to end it here for now.

Do take note that chapter releases from now will range to a week maximum. That I can assure.

Thank you all for reading, and...

Sayonara!

Time check:

1:39

PS: Sorry it's so short xD


	3. Cold hell, hot new instructor

And, yeah... Time check: 11:13. pm

Curse my brain for making me write this late when I had a lot of time earlier...

**OoO**

**Day 2 onwards. Cold Hell**

I didn't know why I was training like this, but I am...

My training started early in the morning where I was told to just sit down and memorize a certain breathing technique.

_Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, and exhale slowly for 8. Do it until it feels natural._

Those were Kyojuro-san's words. Words that seemed so simple, yet felt so hard.

_As one very large man once said 'Focus hard enough and even fire becomes cold'_

And so I was trained...Or tortured? Maybe both!

Kyojuro-san tripped me and buried me under the piercingly cold snow, ocassionally and playfully pouring water on my face everytime I let go of the breathing.

"You're not gonna get out of that spot until you stop shivering for 5 minutes."

It was hell!

Or was it?

Wasn't hell supposed to be hot?

Ah! forget it!

We stayed there for nearly 2 hours! It was freezing cold and Kyojuro-san, in a sly trick of his mind, decided to sit on me as he waited for me to meet the requirements.

He stared at me coldly and let out some words everytime I begged to get out.

"Adapt and overcome, Kamado-kun! Adapt and overcome!"

In the end, I was able to finish it, thinking that, that was the end.

No it wasn't!

It was probably around 6 in the morning, the sky being so dim, yet so clear.

Still under the cold, piling snow, Kyojuro-san buried me again, this time, instead of having me lie down while covered in snow with my face being the only thing exposed , I was sitting upright and my whole head poked out of the snow.

Kyojuro-san sat in front of me, cross legged, continuing to teach me. This time it was a different breathing style.

"Now, inhale sharply for 4 seconds, hold it in for 2, and exhale it all out in under 1."

I didn't know what happened next, my body being concentrated on the cold and all, but something incredible happened.

While maintaining the previous breathing technique that Kyojuro-san drilled into me, I transitioned to the other.

Both involve inhaling for 4 seconds so it was easy even for a beginner like me, but the result of the more recent breathing technique is nothing short of surprising.

The previous breathing technique pricked my entire body and overdrived them all, increasing my sense of touch, and intensifying the despair I had because of the cold.

But as soon as I used the latter, all those seemed to blown away for a short pause until it slowly crept its way back to my body.

It was incredible. For a short moment, despite being under a big pile of freezing cold snow, I felt warm and cozy. A feeling I never even thought I would be able to experience just 2 hours earlier.

I repeated it again and again until it started to feel natural, the body that I have slowly being able to resist the cold.

Although my lungs felt hot and dry everytime I perform the 2nd breathing technique, it was very beneficial considering the current situation that I was in.

Take note, in contrast to the mearly 5 minutes of not shivering under the cold, heavy pile of snow that I was under, after switching between the breathing styles back and forth, I was able to resist the cold for 30 minutes straight!

Kyojuro-san said it was all too unnatural, me being able to do all that in one day, but to me it felt like an achievement!

Without even the slightest bit of delay, Kyojuro-san dug me out of the snow and made me hold a bamboo sword.

At first, I thought, _This is it! Swordsmanship!_

But the moment I held the sword, my entire life turned around and existential crisis took over me.

The bamboo sword is too heavy! Like it's made of stone!

The moment I extended my arms to a certain extent, my muscles carried all the weight and I got exhausted immediately.

But I was not allowed to sit down, instead, I was ordered to swing the sword once.

Kyojuro-san said it had to be a swing that he is satisfied with, or else I'm gonna have to do it again.

So, without further delay, I tried to swing the bamboo sword. But...

The moment I swung the sword, it slipped off of my hand and hit a tree. The tree bore marks on its trunk as the sword remained sturdy and spotless!

I couldn't help but admire the quality of the bamboo sword.

I picked it up immediately after accidentally throwing it, but my arms felt extremely heavy.

"As I figured. Now, use your breathing while wielding the sword. Use the first breath while holding it, and switch to the 2nd everytime you strike."

I tried to do it as he said. First, I braced my entire being and maintained my breathing. My entire body felt sensitive, but I was able to hold the sword for extended periods of time.

I tried to swing it on rhythm to the exhales of my 2nd breathing style, it felt very powerful, but my hands lose their strength after I lose all the air in my body.

"The trick is to let the sword finish its swing, rather than countering it."

Before, I thought, _maybe Kyojuro-san is right_. Since I was holding the sword back everytime it went half way in order to set up my next swing, my muscles felt extremely heavy, and they tire almost instantly.

So, I tried again.

This time, instead of fighting the sword, I went along with its flow, connecting the next swings that I do, instead of cutting them off to execute them faster.

After a few repetitions, my muscles gave up and my sword fell helplessly on the ground. Maybe it was primarily because of exhaustion, since I felt like I still can hold the sword, but Kyojuro-san halted the training in consideration for me.

He bit his thumb as he looked aimlessly at one direction of the forest.

"Kyojuro-san?"

I called to him.

"Sorry..."

He snapped back to reality soon after hearing my voice. He then looked around, and walked to a random direction.

"Let's eat, Kamado-kun."

He strode across a path without snow, signalling me to come along with him.

"But the path is that way..."

I looked to the direction of both the shack, and the way back down the mountain.

"Oh...right!"

He said loudly, awkwardly spinning around to the specified direction.

After that, we took a short break at the shack as he cooked yet another delicious food.

This time, it's roasted fish seasoned with salt, the fish was perfectly cooked and the temperature was perfect!

You woke up in the middle of it all, growing in size as you rose up and stood. Your vibe felt so sleepy, but as soon as you smelled the food, life rushed to you.

We ate, and without delay, went back to training. The rest were stamina, and muscle training.

I held stones as I performed squats, I had to learn to traverse on the trees, running on their branches as I make a path to my goal. It was hard, I fell multiple times and it took me over 14 tries to fully travel a kilometer while running on the trees.

Kyojuro-san said it was to improve explosive strength as it is very crucial on using the breath. With that, he also made me swim in an extremely cold river against its stream.

After all that, he made me do all of them again, this time utilizing the breaths. To tell you, the difference between doing the exercise by itself and using the breaths were phenomenal.

Everything felt easier and all drills were executed much more smoothly compared to the latter.

It took us a nice 8 hours to finish the first day of training, ending it with a sparring.

Just to say though, I was okay with everything until the sparring. Instead of having muscle cramps, and a tired body, I finished my first day with muscle cramps, a tired body, a mentally and emotional exhausted mind, 2 bruised arms, one aching abdomen and more.

I honestly could've appreciated Kyojuro-san not doing that to me, but at the same time, it felt like a valuable experience.

The rest of our stay at the mountain is pretty much the same, except for the increasing intensity, I did pretty much the exact same thing, everyday.

With that in mind, almost one year had passed. And my body felt stronger than ever before.

**oOo**

"You're doing a good job, Tanjiro-kun..."

Whilst in the middle of beating down a tree that's been threatening to fall, a certain man with tall posture, donning a black uniform under a white haori, walked up to Tanjiro.

It's been a year since they first met, and the space between them has long since narrowed down. But recently, Tanjiro's been smelling a certain vibe on his master that tells him that his master, at the moment, is in a moment of anguish.

Everytime they meet, a heavy smell always seems to find its way to his nose, more often than not, coming from his master.

Kyojuro's mind is unreadable, courtesy of being such a complex, enthusiastic eccentric. And this fact is bringing Tanjiro great distress at the moment.

Nezuko, also known as Tanjiro's younger sister, is seen clinging onto Kyojuro's uniform, crawling around it like a spider while utilizing her small form.

This brought a smile to Tanjiro's face, but his distress was still there.

"Kyojuro-san..."

Words slipped off of his mind, due to his mind being under deep procrastination while beating the tree with the bamboo sword.

"What?"

His master, also deep within his mind, responded with a heavy tone. His eyes looking on the ground.

"N-no. It's nothing..."

Tanjiro, in consideration to his master's seemingly depressed mood, he reclined his question, one that was supposed to be about what's wrong with Kyojuro.

"Now that I think about it, Tanjiro-kun. It's about time for you to learn the breaths. Your body can probably withstand it now."

His smell was full of grief, sadness, regret, but Kyojuro didn't show any of it in any way. That amazed Tanjiro, seeing how amazing people can truly be. Kyojuro's smell was heavy, even heavier than a demon's, yet he still manages to keep them at bay at remain on his neutral self all for the sake of his surroundings.

How he admired Kyojuro at that moment.

"Breaths? You mean the forms, Kyojuro-san?"

Riding the topic as he distracts himself from a rather depressing fact, he asked the latter.

"Yes. We should start immediately."

**OoO**

Day 412.

Breath of flames. First form: Sea of fire.

A form that requires extreme speed and power, it consists of the user closing the distance between him and the enemy to decapitate them using one or many strikes.

This form is the most basic, but the most versatile of the forms, as it allows free movements and multiple steps since it is a technique that is simple.

However, this form is also the most dangerous, and can be turned against its user when used incorrectly.

I started with this form, then slowly ascended to the more grueling, more complicated moves.

Simply executing them required extreme focus, and doing it causes an unbearable strain on the muscles.

So, I was wondering...How was I able to master it this quickly?

Your brother is amazing, right?!

**OoO**

Eating at a small udon stand beside the streets of a place called Mori, master and student Rengoku Kyojuro, and Kamado Tanjiro ate merrily at the sight of a rather unlucky server.

"Tasty! Tasty!"

Kyojuro continuesly mutters with a mouth full of food, while his student just starrs at him dumbfounded at his master's ability to eat udon at an alarming rate.

All he could do is bow in front of the server while the owner of the stall is happily counting money deep inside their small stall.

Sweat dropped off of his face comically as he just giggles his way out of the awkward situation, turning back to a serious face momentarily before finally snapping and imitating his master's actions.

"Tasty! Tasty!"

He shouted, slurping the udon like its water.

Some time later, Kyojuro finally finished eating after having 2 stacks of 8 bowls towering beside him. The owner of the bar flashing a sinister smile at them before wishing them a safe trip.

"Come again!"

The sly looking owner of the bar smirked deeply as he bows on his leaving costumers.

Since there, Tanjiro and Kyojuro both walked to the Rengoku house, having Tanjiro's younger sister, Nezuko, stay there after having fallen asleep.

"Tanjiro-kun..."

He whispered quite loudly, as it is heard by the younger, smaller one of the two.

The one which in turn responded by simply lifting his head to face Kyojuro's.

"L-let's talk about it at home..."

Tanjiro's eyes squinted as he smelled grief from his master yet again, despite not showing any signs of it externally.

"Kyojuro-san. Please tell me, why are you so sad?"

Kyojuro's eyes closed as he sighed heavily, his shoulders dropped along with his mood, and his look felt sad despite looking relieved.

"So you noticed, huh..."

His head started to tilt downwards. They were amidst walking, but both of them stopped after Kyojuro halted after having his emotions revealed.

Tanjiro subconsciously formed a fist, his heart loudly thumping, and his ears ringing like hell. He's been noticing the changes on his master for these past few months, and they seemed to get worse every time he manages to learn a form.

Tanjiro didn't understand, nor did he even realized.

Kyojuro didn't want him to pass, but as fate would deem it so, he did. No. He did with flying colors. That thought merely served as food for Kyojuro's lingering emotions.

"The truth is...Like every other teacher...I don't want you to join the selection."

The selection. A test made for the Demon Slayers in order to filter the bad out of the worst and keep the best of the best. It is also a trial that would easily tell whether a person is fit to become a demon slayer, otherwise, they would die.

This fact is what's hindering Kyojuro to send his student early, seeing as to how he managed to learn nearly all the forms in a short 2 and a half months.

His compatibility with the Breath of the flames is frightening, with his growth and improvement supporting it even more.

For a normal person, he would be happy, but Kyojuro isn't normal.

'The person on top will have nowhere else to go but down.'

He clings to this proverb. If someone becomes too strong too early, they tend to lose out due to the lack of development, and this is worrying him greatly.

The next selection is happening a month later, and next one after is happening 4 months later, and next one would also be happening 4 months after, and so on.

He could continuously train his student to be able to become a swordsman worthy of survival, but to his judgement, improvement can only truly be sought out from actual fights with their lives on the line.

That's why, at that moment, at that time, he decided to send his student to somewhere else where he could train.

"Tanjiro-kun..."

Kyojuro turned back to his student after they stopped walking, reliving his usual optimism before speaking.

"I'm gonna have you train with someone. Just a former student of mine."

Kyojuro stated in a blur, being both calm and nervous at the same time.

"A...former student?"

Tanjiro's brows furrowed deep in his face, having to deal with the sudden decision his master had dealt with.

"Yes...A former student of mine."

**OoO**

And...That's it for now. Sorry if it's so poorly written and is overly boring lol. I'm even worse than I originally am.

Anyways, this took much longer than I expected since it was hard to write considering how there's literally nothing special on it. I guess you could say this...is a transition chapter where Tanjiro will train from Kyojuro to...you know who.

Also, thanks for everyone's supports and comments! I've received only positive comments on this story and I would REALLY appreciate criticism!

Lastly, I'm just going to tell everyone this in case this takes THAT long. My priority on this fanfic is the annoying butterfly, so other deaths may not be avoided. I'm not going to say they're really going to die though.

That's about it for now, pound it, noggin'

SEE YA!

P.S. (lol) Currently working on yet another one shot I have in mind so the next update may be a little late


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